Chrysler Group engineer Ryan Said's rookie season in the Bassmaster Elite professional fishnig tour has just turned the corner into the second half as he casts his lot out on West Point Lake, La Grange, Ga.

Recently, Said sent us an update on his first season in the Elite Series. (For more on Said, see this earlier story before the season started.)

In the update, Said wrote via an email, "Six out of seven days a week are spent fishing sun-up to sun-down, then coming back in for a few hours to eat, catch up on emails/communication with everyone, ordering more tackle, and just a few hours of sleep...then do it all again the next day!

"That one day I am not fishing is spent driving from one lake to the next! It is hard, long work, make no mistake...but when you enjoy what you do it is a little less like work."

Said noted that he is learning and improving his fishing every time out on the water: "The places I have been to are nothing like the fisheries back up north. The fish behave totally different and I am fishing things like standing timber and fluctuating water levels which we have none of up north."

While, as Said wrote above, what he's doing is nothing like work, there are a couple major highlights during the first half of the season.

"The most memorable moment is a toss up. It is probably coming into the arena the second day of the Bassmaster Classic. They they brought us into the New Orleans arena in our boats and when they lifted the curtain to bring me in, there were about 7,000 people starring back at me....the stadium was packed. I had the second biggest bass of the day to show them all and they all went crazy.....it was very cool.

"A close second would be the first day at the St. John's River (In link, see image #29). I caught the biggest bass of my life that day first thing in the morning.

"I saw the fish on the bed in practice but she was skittish and I was not sure if she would hang around. I went to her first thing on the first day of the tournament. It was still dim light outside so I could not see if she was there or not. I pitched in the bed a couple times and she ate the bait...after a short fight she was in the boat....at 7-10 largemouth...it was awesome."

To catch up with Said's angling activities, check out and like his Facebook Page.

'A lot of visibility'

Whille another automaker is a major sponsor of the Bassmaster Elite Series, Said wrote that the Ram Brand is "getting a lot of visibility" from his involvement.

"At every gas station I stop at, people talk to me and are very glad to see that Ram is getting more involved in the outdoor market. They love the truck and love the wrap.

"At every tournament, the guys who ride in my boat are glad to see an American company coming in to compete. There is still a major desire among the grassroots outdoors men and women to purchase American products....and we are giving them a reason to."

Ram Truck is supplying Said with a Ram 1500 Outdoorsman, along with other support.

Images: Courtesy either of the Said family or from Ryan Said's Facebook Page

Top: Ryan Said on the water with his Ram Truck boat.

Middle: Ryan Said showing a 6-lb. bass he caught on Pickwick Lake, Florence, Ala., during the Bassmaster Elite Series' Alabama Charge, April 6-9.

Bottom: The Ram 1500 Outdoorsman Ryan Said is using during his time on the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series Tour.